Hamilton’s precarious hospitals

Vincent J. Curtis

19 Jan 22

RE: Hospitals in ‘precarious’ state as COVID surges.  The Hamilton Spectator 19 Jan 22.

The evidence for global warming lies everywhere in abundance in Hamilton.  It’s as plain as the COVID-19 panic porn on the front page of the Spectator.  Hospitals in ‘precarious’ state!  COVID surges!  Be afraid!  Be very afraid!

Actually, COVID-19 isn’t surging, it’s declining fast.  The Ontario daily case rate has plunged to a third of what it was at peak insanity at Christmas.  Total active cases are likewise plunging, to less than half of what they were at the peak.  Hospitalizations lag cases by a little over a week, and while at a high today, hospitalizations will begin plunging within the next few days.

The details of the precarious state of Hamilton’s hospitals are helpfully given – on page 2.  There are 308 patients with hospitalized with COVID, including 42 in ICU.  This is out of a city of 538,000 people.  But it is because of this tiny alleged choke point of 42 people occupying all the available ICU beds that businesses have to be shut down to ‘prevent the spread’ and boosters administered at a furious pace because the original two-dose vaccination proved worthless.  The situation is made worse because over 1,000 hospital staff are off self-isolating due to COVID.

308 patients, and 1032 hospital staff.  How many staff does it take to treat a COVID patient?  Or screw in a lightbulb?

A crisis in hospital management –which is what this is- should not result in the destruction of other people’s lives, businesses, and schooling.  (Isn’t there a saying, “failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part?”  When did the public health professionals get this power?)

This is going to be over by the end of January.  But when will the panic porn cease?

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